Library clips :: May

May 15, 2006

whonu then ZingBoxx : pre-made search topics

Filed under: search

whonu is a meta-search utility service.

It doesn’t show the results within whonu, instead each result is a link to the native search engine with the search term already pre-populated.

If I search the term “library“, it links to 10 search engines, click on one of the 10 links to launch to a search engine.
This is just for section 1 of the results page, section 2 looks in directories, etc…see below:

1. web
2. directories
3. academic sources
4. print
5. other top search engines
6. specific domains
7. specific page locations

That’s just the beginning, the default search choice is “web search” (magnify glass)…scroll to the top of the page and move the mouse to the magnify glass with the star on it, this will search facts, FAQ, secrets, how-to etc…
most of the results are advanced searches from the 3 top search engines.

The choices are: web, discovery, articles, forums, world, images, audio, video, news, reference, files, domain, blogs, create numerous RSS search feeds in one go, opinions & reviews, government, and marketplace.

Over on the top left is a star icon, underneath it are 3 dots on top of each other, hovering over each dot reveals another batch of search choices….this just doesn’t stop.

You can even incorporate it into your Google Toolbar.

Here are some sample searches.

Pre-made search topic directory

Now this is where this idea feeds into another idea, over on the whonu blog is a post about ZingBoxx, basically it is taking the sample search idea and making a topic directory.

At Zingboxx, just look for a topic and use the different whonu search choices…here’s the Back Pain topic.

As you can see it has about 8 different search queries:
Back Pain
Lower Back Pain
Back Pain Exercises
Back Pain Relief
Back Pain Treatment
Posture
Herniated Disc
Chiropractor

You don’t have to search, all you have to do is choose a pre-made search query, then choose a Zingboxx (eg. web, blogs, articles, reference, forums, etc…), and then choose a search engine.

Topic directories are in vogue at the moment, Squidoo, and Zimbio (a section within topic in Zimbio is devoted to pre-made keyword searches…ZingBoxx is making a whole focused service from this one feature).

The Google Co-op is treading this ground, using the more: operator…eg. tibet more:dining_guides…see more at mashable.

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